February 24, 2014

Monday Midday Must-Reads

-The New York Daily News reports that American Airlines will boost the wages of contract workers at its New York airports as New York politicians pressure companies to better compensate workers at JFK and LaGuardia. More than 1,000 porters, baggage handlers and other employees who work for companies that are under contract for American will get an immediate $1 raise and a second raise to $10.10 early next year, the article says.

-Cranky Flier Brett Snyder has come across a unique way that Great Lakes Aviation is dealing with the new pilot flight time duty rules and resulting pilot shortage. According to his blog post, the regional carrier has ripped out more than half their seats in their Beechcraft 1900D since the FAA has a different set of rules for airlines who operate aircraft with less than 30 seats.

-Motley Fool contributer Adam Levine-Weinberg takes a closer look at three start-up carriers in the U.S., PEOPLExpress, California Pacific Airlines and Eastern Airlines. Two of them are familiar names in the industry that went belly-up post-deregulation and Levine-Weinberg examines if any of the airlines have made it through all of the government red tape and are ready to fly.